The Science Hall at City College, where tuition fees will be waved for qualifying S.F. residents for the next two academic years.

The Science Hall at City College, where tuition fees will be waved for qualifying S.F. residents for the next two academic years.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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Simon Chan reviews his paperwork after discovering that he was inadvertently charged tuition fees when registering.

Simon Chan reviews his paperwork after discovering that he was inadvertently charged tuition fees when registering.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

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People walk across the Ocean campus at City College of San Francisco on Monday, November 16, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.

People walk across the Ocean campus at City College of San Francisco on Monday, November 16, 2015 in San Francisco, Calif.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

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The front of the Science Hall at San Francisco City College in San Francisco, CA Wednesday September 11, 2013.

The front of the Science Hall at San Francisco City College in San Francisco, CA Wednesday September 11, 2013.

Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle

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Course catalogs are distributed at an orientation meeting for international students enrolling at CCSF in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. In an effort to boost enrollment, tuition fees will be waved for qualifying San Francisco residents for the next two academic years. less

Course catalogs are distributed at an orientation meeting for international students enrolling at CCSF in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. In an effort to boost enrollment, tuition fees will be ... more

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

City College enrollment up with free tuition for SF residents

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The news is good this year for City College of San Francisco, which badly needs to boost enrollment to make up for thousands of students lost during its recent accreditation crisis: Fall registration is up 16 percent so far over last year, with nearly 4,900 more students.

The threat of closure that hovered over the college for five years has evaporated, and may be one reason for students’ renewed interest. But even more attractive appears to be that, for the first time, taking classes at City College is virtually free for all San Francisco residents who have lived in California for at least a year.

Participants still pay $20 a semester — $17 for a health fee and $3 for Web registration — plus the cost of books. But the $46-per-credit fee is waived. That’s $552 in savings for a full-time student taking 12 credits.

There is a caveat: Students who drop a free class after the deadline for doing so will be charged full price for that class.

The program got off to a slightly rocky start, as clerks charged at least one San Francisco student $173 for a free class on Wednesday — and he paid. Now campus officials are scrambling to contact roughly 50 others who registered in person this week to learn if they, too, were erroneously charged.

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But most students had no such problem and were thrilled with the free classes.

“I can’t let that opportunity pass,” said Daniel Sumo, 40, a nursing assistant who saved $276 as he registered this week for the math and physical education courses he needs as prerequisites for a nursing program. “I feel good!”

So do officials at City College, which has lost 30,000 full- and part-time students since 2012, when an accrediting commission first threatened to revoke the school’s accreditation due to poor management practices. It took five years, four chancellors, two lawsuits, a state takeover and enormous effort on the part of the college to fix its problems before the commission reaffirmed City College’s accreditation in January.

Meanwhile, City College enrollment plunged from about 90,000 to 60,000, creating a new crisis for the school. The state gives community colleges about $3,000 to $5,000 for each student enrolled, depending on whether the student is enrolled in noncredit or credit courses. So each fleeing student cost City College thousands of dollars. To offset that loss, the Legislature gave the college “stabilization funding,” including $44 million in 2015 and $25 million in 2016. But the extra funding ended this year.

So college officials were elated in February, when San Francisco city supervisors announced the two-year “Free City College” pilot program in which they expect to spend $5.4 million each year to buy out the $46-a-credit fee usually paid by students. The money will come from a voter-approved tax on San Francisco properties that sell for at least $5 million and is expected to raise about $44 million a year for the city.

City College officials have posted cheery signs all around the city declaring, “Free City,” with tag lines like “obstacles removed,” and “because we believe in access and opportunity.”

So far, enrollment is up by 4,866 — a mixture of full- and part-time students whose attendance will bring in $7 million to $12 million in state funding for City College, depending on whether their classes are credit or noncredit.

“We are thrilled,” said Leslie Milloy, the college’s new “Free City” director. “Students say this is so amazing. They say, ‘This is making such a difference for me. I don’t have to work as many hours as I would otherwise.’”

The program was not entirely without glitches Wednesday.

Although most students register for classes online, Simon Chan, 51, a retired civil engineer and longtime San Francisco resident, showed up at City College’s main campus at 50 Phelan Ave. to register in person for a sculpting class.

The clerk told Chan the registration price was $173. Chan wrote a check and turned to leave.

A Chronicle reporter asked Chan why he had paid, now that City College was free.

“Because there’s an income requirement, right?” Chan said.

Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle

Simon Chan fills out an online form in the registration office for a sculpting class at CCSF in San Francisco, Calif. on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. Chan initially registered in person but was incorrectly charged tuition fees so he was In instructed to fill out a form online to be able to have the fee refunded. an effort to boost enrollment, tuition fees will be waved for qualifying San Francisco residents for the next two academic years.

Simon Chan fills out an online form in the registration office for...

But there is no income requirement. “Even the children of the founders of Facebook” would qualify, Supervisor Jane Kim, who pushed the free college program, said in February.

Chan asked registration officials why they charged him and was told that students who register in person pay up front, then ask for a reimbursement.

But that’s also incorrect, said Milloy, the “Free City” director, who showed up with Admissions Dean Mary Lou Leyba to help.

“This was a mistake on our part,” Milloy said.

Leyba said the incident showed that she needs to improve training in the registration department. “That’s a step we missed,” she said.

Chan got his check back.

“I’m grateful,” he said, smiling. “I’m retired — so I have to watch my money.”

College officials said Thursday they are contacting clerks at all 10 registration sites to clarify the rules, as well as every student who has registered in person since Tuesday, when the process began. Milloy said any student who was improperly charged will receive a refund by Wednesday.